The parent company of De Bradelei Wharf, the discount retail centre which closed without warning on Tuesday, had written off a £370,000 investment in the retail business in the year before it suddenly closed.

The Davy Group, based in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, which has a majority share in the shopping outlet in Dover, which is understood to have ceased trading without paying staff for last month’s work.

It made a profit of just £4,379 in the year to the end of June 2015 after the write down of cash it had injected into the outlet centres, which offered discounts on a range of big-name fashion and home brands.

The latest accounts for De Bradelei Stores, which also has centres in Nottingham and Derbyshire, show it owed creditors £2.8 million at the end of June last year.

The value of its stocks, cash in the bank and money owed from debtors was £360,731. Its land, buildings and other physical assets were worth £229,856.

Yet at the time, directors said they had “no reason to believe” there was any doubts about the groups ability to continue running as a business.

It closed this week, with a message on its website saying: “The Company De Bradelei Stores Ltd and subsequent stores De Bradelei Stores, Belper (Derbyshire): De Bradelei Wharf, Dover; Courtaulds Factory Shop, Nottingham have ceased trading with effect from 5.30pm on Tuesday, October 4.”

In its latest group accounts, the Davy Group – whose website was down this week – said its retail business had been through “very difficult trading on the high street”.

It is owned by Andrew Davy, part of the Davy family which also runs Davy Textiles in Bradford, a fifth-generation textile mill tracing its history to 1895.

In his company report, Mr Davy said: “The retail side has managed to cut their annual loss significantly with stringent cost cutting and, after negotiating significant cuts in store rental, are [sic] confident that these losses can be further cut during the coming year.”

He said its key risks were a fall in high street spending and “a vote to leave the EU would have a temporary effect on trade due to uncertainty in the market”.

He added the company, which employs about 130 people across its retail and textile business, was looking to dispose of one of its retail stores which it said was “not performing”, saying “we believe it would take too long to turn around”.

It is unclear if this was the Dover site.

How KMTV reported the closure this week

Turnover at Davy Group inched up 1.5% to £11.7 million last year. The business made an operating profit of £80,500 after suffering losses of £76,600 a year earlier. Pre-tax profits stood at £60,600, compared to a loss of £93,500 in 2014.

Davy Textiles, of which Andrew Davy is not a director, buys material from redundant stock – “processed and unprocessed, pure or contaminated” – which it recycles and sells around the world.

No one from the Davy Group answered requests for comment.